substrate for planted fahaka tank?

[nile puffer lover]

what would be the best choice, or would it be best to leave the live plants out? i dont know alot about mixing these two things so any help would be very apperciated

[xrayjeeper83]

Ive got Pool filter sand in mine with live plants, and they all seem to be doing pretty good

[nile puffer lover]

so if they will work what kind of plant should one go with

[jus85411]

im afraid most people would probably tell you fake plants are the way to go. a fahaka, especially a large one, will uproot them very often while digging/playing around. might even just eat the plants lol

[RTR]

Tank size matters big time. If the fish is already in its permanent home, getting plants established may be a trick - depending on the size of the fish right mow.

IME, there are few plants which can survive with a Fahaka. If you opt for a substrate suited to digging by the fish, that means lots of regular vacuuming or for me, over-engineered reverse flow undgergravel filtration throughout. I used Crinun natans, surrounded by surface ~3" square slate tiles in a couple of layers to block digging until the plants were established. Once the plants were solidly rooted (a couple of months minimum, perhaps more), then the tiles are removed. Pick a couple of corners for planting, leave the rest of the tank bare of plants. As the plants mature they will throw pups aka offsets and every year or two some of these should be removed. Within a year the Crinum will have carpeted the base of the substrate in any largish hobby tank up to at least 180 US gal. The foliage is semi-floating, so provides sheltered areas for naps or sleeping. Foliage on 2-3 or more year old bulbs will be 4-6' long. External leaves may be removed periodically to keep the plant from completely covering the water surface. This definitely is a forever plant and ls all but indestructible once established (more than 10-15 years).

Some leaves will be badly nicked or severed by the fish. Just cut them back if or as they yellow. Over OE-RFUG the root mass will cover all of the upper surface of filter plates and may be left undisturbed other than when removing offsets. The roots are large and relatively fragile, but coarse enough that they do not block flow over RFUG.

If in routine substrates, periodic (2-3 years) resets are required as with old sword plants to avoid anoxic areas.

HTH

[Pufferpunk]

I'm having great luck with anubius. Since they don't need rooting, the puffer can move them around at will. I just keep stuffing them back between branches of driftwood & rocks. They are thriving in there & I need to thin them out, so he has more room to swim.

[RTR]

I'm too lazy to keep replanting Anubias. I do use on the rock walls in the tang tanks, but other than that, all mine are planted in the substrate. That would not do in a Fahaka tank.

[weidjd]

Tank size matters big time. If the fish is already in its permanent home, getting plants established may be a trick - depending on the size of the fish right mow.

IME, there are few plants which can survive with a Fahaka. If you opt for a substrate suited to digging by the fish, that means lots of regular vacuuming or for me, over-engineered reverse flow undgergravel filtration throughout. I used Crinun natans, surrounded by surface ~3" square slate tiles in a couple of layers to block digging until the plants were established. Once the plants were solidly rooted (a couple of months minimum, perhaps more), then the tiles are removed. Pick a couple of corners for planting, leave the rest of the tank bare of plants. As the plants mature they will throw pups aka offsets and every year or two some of these should be removed. Within a year the Crinum will have carpeted the base of the substrate in any largish hobby tank up to at least 180 US gal. The foliage is semi-floating, so provides sheltered areas for naps or sleeping. Foliage on 2-3 or more year old bulbs will be 4-6' long. External leaves may be removed periodically to keep the plant from completely covering the water surface. This definitely is a forever plant and ls all but indestructible once established (more than 10-15 years).

Some leaves will be badly nicked or severed by the fish. Just cut them back if or as they yellow. Over OE-RFUG the root mass will cover all of the upper surface of filter plates and may be left undisturbed other than when removing offsets. The roots are large and relatively fragile, but coarse enough that they do not block flow over RFUG.

If in routine substrates, periodic (2-3 years) resets are required as with old sword plants to avoid anoxic areas.

HTH

So when in the permanent home, meaning a fish with some good size? What about a small 2-3" would it be possible to setup a planted tank with fluorite/gravel mix and be able to get away from constant maintenance? IF not I might say heck with the live plants.

[Pufferpunk]

Most fahakas I know of will not leave plants in their place.

[Blaine]

I have java fern attached to driftwood and planted in the substrate (PFS) I also have some anubias and java moss attached to driftwood and rocks. All these plants do not need to be rooted in the substrate but I have never had a problem with the ones that are. Leave lots of open spaces for the fahaka to dig and you should be fine.

[xrayjeeper83]

PP does your fahaka not allow live plants??? Bloats tank is nothing but live plants and he doesnt mess with any of them.

[Ohyouknow]

I've noticed that my Fahaka doesn't mind the anubias or swords. He will however, uproot my fake plants, and tear them apart... but for the most part leaves my real ones (just real anubias and amazon swords) alone. When it comes to Fahakas it seems there are a lot of trial and errors that happen, their personalties are SO unique!

[Pufferpunk]

I do have anubias & he's always moving it to one side of the tank. He's chewed up all my plastic ones.

[RTR]

I don't consider the size of the new fish relative to the permanent tank size. I put most fish and definitely giat puffers into their permanent home either immediately if possible, or more often directly from QT. IME it is the only way I can get the fish to full adult size.

From prior experience with the big tanks, I suspected that giants would not disturb well-rooted Crinums, and to some extent that did happen. But they were not in favor of as many as I would like. Both the T.mbu and all three fahakas that I have had seem to actually like having one big clump of Crinums - it served as refuge when they were small, sleep/resting areas throughout their life, and foliage to check for hidden prey. But any plant along the front glass was destroyed - if was in their swimming space, they did it in.

Only one of my Fahakas buried itself, and that only while quite young/small, so there was no root disturbance to the established plants. The Crimum roots did cover the entire tank, just as the foliage shaded most of it - both roots and leaves can exceed 6'.

[weidjd]

I don't consider the size of the new fish relative to the permanent tank size. I put most fish and definitely giat puffers into their permanent home either immediately if possible, or more often directly from QT. IME it is the only way I can get the fish to full adult size.

From prior experience with the big tanks, I suspected that giants would not disturb well-rooted Crinums, and to some extent that did happen. But they were not in favor of as many as I would like. Both the T.mbu and all three fahakas that I have had seem to actually like having one big clump of Crinums - it served as refuge when they were small, sleep/resting areas throughout their life, and foliage to check for hidden prey. But any plant along the front glass was destroyed - if was in their swimming space, they did it in.

Only one of my Fahakas buried itself, and that only while quite young/small, so there was no root disturbance to the established plants. The Crimum roots did cover the entire tank, just as the foliage shaded most of it - both roots and leaves can exceed 6'.

Thanks that is why this forum is great.